1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shift control mechanisms for transmissions and, more particularly, to a shift control mechanism to manually shift an automatic transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automotive vehicles require a power train to transmit the force of an engine to wheels of the vehicle. The power train's main component is typically referred to as the "transmission". Engine torque and speed are converted in the transmission in accordance with the tractive-power demand of the vehicle. Transmissions are generally referred to as manually actuated or automatic transmissions. Manual transmissions generally include mechanical mechanisms for coupling rotating gears to produce different ratio outputs to drive the wheels. Automatic transmissions are designed to take automatic control of the frictional units, gear ratio selection and gear shifting.
Recently, there has been a demand to provide an automatic transmission that may be manually shifted in addition to normal automatic transmission operation. Such shifting is typically provided by a shift control mechanism. An example of such a shift control mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,530 to Stehle et al. This patented shift control mechanism for an automatic transmission includes a selector lever to be operated manually. The selector lever is displaced in a first shifting lane for selecting different transmission speeds during normal operation and transversely in a second shifting lane to manually engage the desired forward speed. However, there is a need in the art to provide a new and improved shift control mechanism.